What Makes You Happy?

Let me begin with this: What makes a cow happy? I’ve been around cows, and I can tell you one thing. When a cow is being a cow, the cow is the happiest. When is an alligator happy? Being an alligator. You can put a diamond-laced chain on the neck of that alligator, put lipstick on it, tie it onto a very expensive chair, and say, “You look beautiful.” But the alligator doesn’t really care about those things. It just wants to be an alligator; it just wants to do the alligator thing—whatever that is. Being a cat is what makes a cat happy. Being a dog is what makes a dog happy. So what is it that makes the human being happy?

The question is: what makes you happy? Before you answer that, keep one thing in mind. The alligator is not dependent on anything else—just being itself is what makes it happy. For the cat it is being a cat.

It would be a sad day if your happiness depended on someone else or something else. If it did, you’re in trouble. Now your life is dedicated not to enjoying happiness, but to having that person around who makes you happy or preserving that situation that makes you happy.

People ask: “What are we doing in this world?” We try to preserve all that we think is good, that we like. The whole world is busy trying to make that happen. Nobody’s enjoying themselves because enjoyment is not important now; what has become important is to make sure that those circumstances are there, that those people are there.

Can true joy be dependent on anyone else? Is that a harsh or a sweet reality? For those who have felt true joy, it is the sweetest reality. It’s a reality that says, “I exist. I am alive. The most beautiful gift, most incredible wealth of breath is being given to me and I am conscious. I am aware. I have not only a yearning to be happy, but I have the source of happiness within me.” Both things. Having the yearning to be in peace and the source of peace within you are both important. A lot of people want to know about peace and ask me, “So where is it? How can we get it?”

I tell them, “Peace isn’t the problem. Peace is inside of you. I know that. And in fact, you know that. The problem isn’t peace; the problem is the yearning.” Standing in the middle of the farm where you have tomatoes, eggplant, oranges, and a peach tree, the problem isn’t food. The problem is hunger. Peace is innate. The issue is your desire for peace.

How can I be dependent upon myself when I don’t even know who I am? Who am I? An alligator knows who an alligator is. A cat knows who a cat is. A dog knows, “I’m a dog.” The human being, who has the biggest brain per body size, who has the run of the earth and the surface of the ocean, asks: “Why am I here? What am I doing here? Who am I?”

Maybe I will be happiest if I can just be me—if I only knew who I was. In your life, things change and have kept changing. There were things that were not good, and they went. And there were things that were superb, and they went, too—an indiscriminate throwing out of stuff. The only thing that has remained constant is the desire to be fulfilled.

When I am fulfilled, the desire to be fulfilled even grows greater. It’s like love. When you don’t love, there is no love. When you love, then you love even more, and then you can love even more. And then you can love even more.

A lot of people think the objective in life is to be fulfilled so that they won’t have the desire to be fulfilled. That would be a sad day. When you fall in love with someone, you don’t actually fall in love so that you can stop loving—do you? You fall in love so you can love even more, and that has remained constant.

You can truly enjoy your life. I offer the possibility of knowing you so that you can be you. Without knowing you, you cannot be you, and if you cannot be you, you cannot be happy—like the cat, the crocodile, and the cow. It’s important for you to know you so that you can be as happy as you can be. This is how simple it is.

Find out who you are so you can be who you are. Whenever, wherever, even in the dark hours, be who you are so you can be happy, so you can be content, so you can find peace. Yes, you have many, many important things that you have to do. Place this one at the top, and then all the rest will fall in place.